KEF Owner's Thread

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AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi

This thread is dedicated to all the owners and fans of KEF (Kent Engineering & Foundry) loudspeakers.

KEF is certainly one of the most popular speaker brands. I used to own the superb KEF 201/2, which is one of the best measured and sounding speakers in the world, with almost textbook perfect measurements.

There are many KEF reviews and measurements, and here are some of them.

Which KEF speakers do you own? Which have you listened to? What are your impressions of them? What do you think of the new KEF Reference speakers?

cpp

Audioholic Field Marshall

nogaro

Full Audioholic

I'm a new entrant to this group - I bought 1 of the pairs of the 201/2s that ADTG used to own. I finally got to unpack them yesterday and set them up. No fine tuning done yet, just got them hooked up and "superb" is just about the right word for them. Mmmm...mmm.

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0

I've got a few KEF speakers laying around (Q series stuff) and my custom speakers are built around a KEF UniQ driver as well. I haven't gotten to hear their Reference line yet, so I'll reserve final judgement until then. However, I have a hard time seeing where the extra money went to vs the R series (which is arguably more attractive as well).

My personal opinion on the KEF Q line: I think the Q100s (which I owned for a little while) are excellent little speakers, and probably the best value of the bunch. Bass isn't their forte for obvious reasons; I actually chose to use the port plugs to seal them up which I felt improved the overall sound, even if it further crippled their low end abilities (though placement played a big role there).

Re: the Q700 in my theater, I personally think KEF made some poor design choices. The cheaply finished cabinetry I can get over to some extent (especially since I paid much less than MSRP). However, I'd just assume KEF had used a port instead of passive radiators and used the UniQ driver from the Q100. With the cash saved, give us a better XO and a three way design. As is, I'm tossing around the idea of upgrading the front line to the R series, or commissioning another custom build.

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi

If strong rigid curved cabinets make a huge difference in reducing resonance (Revel Salon2, KEF 201/2, B&W 800D2, TAD R1, etc.) and improving sound quality, I just don't understand why KEF would make the new Reference line so boxy!

And did they decrease cost? The new KEF Reference bookshelf is now $7,500 vs. $6,000 on the KEF 201/2.

nogaro

Full Audioholic

If strong rigid curved cabinets make a huge difference in reducing resonance (Revel Salon2, KEF 201/2, B&W 800D2, TAD R1, etc.) and improving sound quality, I just don't understand why KEF would make the new Reference line so boxy!

And did they decrease cost? The new KEF Reference bookshelf is now $7,500 vs. $6,000 on the KEF 201/2.

I thought they sounded GREAT!!! But my comparison was to the TV, and a very old receiver & bookshelves. I got it because it was in my budget, reviews were steller, and I had not really begun my study of audio stuff. About all I knew was that back in the day, a huge Onkyo receiver and pair of Klipshorns was amazing.

As I learned more, and the budget freed up, I started growing the system. But I have to say that first KEF HTIB with a mid-range Yamaha AVR was exciting and sounded great! I still use 2 of the eggs for my rear surrounds in a 7.2 setup.

I thought they sounded GREAT!!! But my comparison was to the TV, and a very old receiver & bookshelves. I got it because it was in my budget, reviews were steller, and I had not really begun my study of audio stuff. About all I knew was that back in the day, a huge Onkyo receiver and pair of Klipshorns was amazing.

As I learned more, and the budget freed up, I started growing the system. But I have to say that first KEF HTIB with a mid-range Yamaha AVR was exciting and sounded great! I still use 2 of the eggs for my rear surrounds in a 7.2 setup.

Yeah, I think it's just in KEF's DNA to make everything as accurate as possible within the given budget. It's the same way with Harman, Pioneer, RBH, etc. No matter what they make, accuracy is always salient.